body-container-line-1
27.07.2016 Opinion

Poisonous Fluoride Toothpaste In Ghana

By Eben Agyemang
Poisonous Fluoride Toothpaste In Ghana
27.07.2016 LISTEN

In 2013, modern Ghana.com published an article from The Independent newspaper which revealed the potential danger of fluoridated toothpaste. It adds that “When The Independent contacted (via phone) the office of the Ghana Dental Association on its findings, a gentleman who answered told the paper to verify its findings before contacting the association.Taking a defensive stance, the gentleman asked which drug in the world was not poisonous. He added that the Independent should find out what quantity of fluoride made it poisonous or toxic adding that excess intake of water also had side-effects.” [1]

Undoubtedly, everything under this sun can be poisonous when in excess, and so I side with the officer from the Ghana Dental Association (GDA). However, I believe there is the need to always find prudent ways to prevent occurrence of overdose or excess accumulation of suchbeneficial substances. Too much of everything is known to be bad, yet I ask this rhetorical question: how much is too much? Anyway let’s talk about fluoride. Do Ghanaians really need it in their toothpaste? Is fluoridated toothpaste doing Ghanaians any good? What will our toothpaste manufacturers lose when they take fluoride out of their product (toothpaste)? It is certain that in Ghana, there are some minerals including fluoride which exist already in underground water and our natural water bodies (streams, boreholes, wells, rivers etc). Fluoride in particular is known to be abundant in Ghana especially in the northern regions of Ghana as revealed by the Upper East regional hospital and the Ghana medical journal. They report that; “In a related survey conducted by the Regional Hospital for the Upper East Region in the Nayorigo community in 2005, in order to have firsthand information about the prevalence of dental fluorosis, 90 % of the respondents were affected by the condition, with fluoride levels above 4.0 ppm. Based on that study which did not include the Bongo District, it was projected that more than 50 % of the children in the District were affected. Recent study revealed that the fluorosis incidence was 63% in the Bongo Township, which thus confirms the projected value by the Regional Hospital.”[2] This means there is the possibility of naturally occurring fluoride in most if not all of our drinking water, but to some extent like the case in the northern regions, our drinking water may even contain more than what is considered safe. For now let’s assume that the fluoride in our drinking water is within the so called acceptable limit [although it may be more]. If we are having our water already fluoridated (say naturally), it means any additional substance containing significant amount of fluoride should be considered as nothing but a poison.

America has most of its water fluoridated and hence it considers all fluoridated toothpaste as poison, all fluoridated toothpaste in America thus bear poison warning signs on their label or tube. Even as Israeli government is still considering adding some fluoride to its drinking water this year, its Local authorities seek to inform the public so people who have been giving their children fluoride drops or using fluoride toothpaste can stop doing so. [3] Why then would Ghanaians be using fluoride toothpaste when of course not only is our water containing some fluoride but some of our foods, drinks, medicines and even chemicals? I couldn’t believe it when I heard a dentist suggesting to Ghanaians to use fluoride toothpaste to brush three times (3x) daily or eight hourly. Dr. Asante Appiah, President of the Ghana Dental Association (GDA) in December 2015, who according to the chronicle.com, suggested to Unilever Ghana Limited to extend its campaign to brushing three times a day – after every eight hours. With this proposal, he would want the company to package the product in such a way that it would be convenient carrying it around, especially, in the case of women and school children, for use after lunch. [4] Like Dr. Asante, Most dentists are convinced that fluoride is good for teeth and that there is no evidence that it does harm - apart from the occasional case of cosmetic dental fluorosis. They point out that in the ten years after fluoride toothpastes were introduced in 1973, dental disease in children fell so dramatically that some dentistry schools had to be closed. Mike Lennon, the Professor of Dental Public Health at the University of Liverpool and a spokesman for the British Dental Association, acknowledges that until the early Nineties some overenthusiastic parents were encouraging children to use too much fluoride toothpaste. I believe that Dr. Asante is also being over enthusiastic to encourage Ghanaian children use and hence accumulate excess fluoride in their system. But some concern dentists like Tony Lees, from Herefordshire, a dentist for over 40 years, believes that fluoride should be banned from toothpastes and water. The marginal benefit it displays for teeth does not outweigh its general dangers, he says. "In the scale of toxicity, fluorides fall between arsenic and lead," he says. "Dental fluorosis is not just a cosmetic problem, but the visible sign of chronic fluoride poisoning, and children are more vulnerable than adults." Anyone overdosing on fluoride, he says, is in danger of developing chronic skeletal fluorosis, which can weaken bones and cause arthritis. It is again not surprising that America will require poison mandatory warning on every tube of fluoridated toothpaste: "In case of accidental ingestion, seek professional assistance or contact a poison center immediately." [5]

Fluoride toothpastes sold in the U.S. generally contain between 1,100 and 1,450 parts per million (ppm) fluoride (the equivalent of over 1 mg of fluoride for each gram of paste). Although the fine print on the back of the toothpaste tube instructs users not to swallow and to use only a “pea-sized” amount, advertisements continue to depict heaping swirls of paste on the brush, [6], and manufacturers continue to market fluoride toothpastes in bubble-gum, fruit, and candy-like flavors [7]. Using child-appealing flavors is particularly dangerous because young children have poorly developed swallowing reflexes, and invariably swallow large amounts of the paste they add to the brush. In most part of Africa, particularly Ghana, the fluoride in toothpastes are mostly over 1400 parts per million.

According to the Journal of Public Health Dentistry: “Virtually all authors have noted that some children could ingest more fluoride from [toothpaste] alone than is recommended as a total daily fluoride ingestion.” [8]

Acute fluoride poisoning, which occurs at doses as low as 0.1 to 0.3 mg per kg of bodyweight, generally presents in the form of gastric pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, and flu-like symptoms. [9],[10]. Although it is believed that many poisoning incidents from fluoride toothpaste go undiagnosed and unreported [11], the number of calls to Poison Control Centers in the U.S. for fluoride poisonings from toothpaste has skyrocketed since the FDA issued its poison warning. Indeed, in the early 1990s (prior to the FDA’s warning), there were about 1,000 poisoning reports each year from fluoride toothpaste. [11]. Today, there are over 23,000 reports a year, resulting in hundreds of emergency room treatments.

Reports to Poison Control Centers in U.S.
Due to Excessive Ingestion of Fluoride Toothpastes
Data from: Brownstein (2009, 2010) & Watson (2003)

# Treated in
Emergency Room

Medical Outcome*

Year

Product

# Reports

None

Minor

Moderate

Major

Death

2009

F Toothpaste

24,547

378

4,781

1,146

42

2

0

2008

F Toothpaste

23,468

383

4,395

1,119

43

1

0

2002

F Toothpaste

24,087

411

4,852

1,218

40

1

1

* Minor effect: Minimally bothersome signs or symptoms that generally resolved without residual disability or disfigurement (e.g. self-limiting gastrointestinal symptoms). Moderate effect: More pronounced or prolonged signs or symptoms, or more of a systemic nature than minor systems. While the symptoms are not life-threatening (e.g., disorientation or high fever that responds readily to treatment), some form of treatment is indicated. Major effect: Signs and symptoms that are life-threatening or result in significant residual disability or disfigurement. [11]

Among some individuals, the use of fluoride toothpaste may cause or aggravate perioral dermatitis (a rosacea-like skin rash around the mouth). [12]. The condition usually appears in women between the ages of 20 and 50. Where fluoride toothpaste is the cause of the condition, significant improvement in symptoms will be experienced within a few weeks of using a non-fluoridated toothpaste. In addition to dermatitis, fluoride toothpaste may also cause stomatitis (i.e., mouth ulcers, “canker sores”). [13].

Perhaps the most important, yet overlooked, risk from excessive ingestion of fluoride toothpaste, is the impact it can have on blood glucose and insulin levels. In the 1980s, researchers at the University of Indiana reported that rats receiving acute, but relatively small, doses (0.5 mg/kg) of fluoride, had significantly higher glucose levels in their blood, and decreased levels of insulin. [14][15]. Since that time, numerous studies have repeated this finding (in both animals and humans) at doses which many children routinely ingest from fluoride toothpaste. It is now estimated, for example, that blood fluoride levels of just 95 ppb produce an increase in glucose levels and a decrease in insulin. [16]. Strikingly, this level is routinely exceeded by about 5 to 10% of children using fluoride toothpaste (particularly those living in fluoridated communities)[17]. As noted earlier Ghana is not a non-fluoridated community, thus not only our children but all and sundry stand a greater chance to have excess accumulation of fluoride. Our geographic location and high temperature makes our thirst for more water inevitable, making us ingest reasonable or excess amount of fluoride. I pray you begin to understand why we need to get rid of all fluoride containing toothpaste, food and or drinks in Ghana, whether they fall within acceptable range or not.

The summer of 2012 saw the publication of a systematic review and meta-analysis by researchers at Harvard University that explored the link between exposure to fluoride and neurological and cognitive function among children. According to the team, even much less dose of fluoride was capable to affect brain function especially IQ;“the results suggest that fluoride may be a developmental neurotoxicant that affects brain development at exposures much below those that can cause toxicity in adults.” [18]

A 2013 study published in the journal Archives of Toxicology showed a link between fluoride exposure and male infertility in mice. The study’s findings suggest that sodium fluoride impairs the ability of sperm cells in mice to normally fertilize the egg through a process known as chemotaxis. [19] Now it’s clear that even the so called minimal dose of fluoride has potential harm on an individual consumer. It is believed that, these fluoride toothpaste contain fluoride not from natural origin (synthetic fluoride) and many people want to know where such fluoride really comes from,as well as the original purpose for which the synthetic fluoride were made. Some Chinese vendors of fluoride advertise on their website that their product can be used as an “adhesive preservative”, an “insecticide” as well as a” flux for soldering and welding”.[20] One Chinese manufacturer, Shanghai Polymet Commodities Ltd., which produces fluoride destined for municipal water reserves in the United States, notes on their website that their fluoride is “highly corrosive to human skin and harmful to people’s respiratory organs”. [21]

Large numbers of people in Japan, China, India, the Middle East, and Africa have been diagnosed with skeletal fluorosis from drinking naturally fluoridated water. In India alone, nearly a million people suffer from the affliction.[22] It will therefore be suicidal for Ghana to be adding fluoride to toothpaste to subject her children to the cruel effects of excess fluoride accumulation. I will be very happy to hear in few months from now that Ghana will use fluoride free toothpaste or better still have a poison warning sign on the tubes of all fluoridated toothpaste. Manufacturers should be happy to welcome this information, apart from saving Ghanaians from fluoride toxicity and its associated disorders; they will save cost of production by taking fluoride out of their ingredients

DR. EBENEZER AGYEMANG
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, (EBENAGE HERBAL PRODUCTION AND CONSULT)

[email protected]
REFERENCES:
[1] https://www.modernghana.com/news/490634/poisonous-toothpaste-hits-ghanaian-market.html

[2] (Ghana Med J. 2013 Mar; 47(1): 16–23.) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3645181/

[3] JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH \ 03/21/2016 22:18 http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Health-and-Science/Fluoride-to-again-be-added-to-drinking-water-448720

[4] http://thechronicle.com.gh/unilever-unveils-new-pepsodent-brand/

[5] The Times (UK) May 16, 2001
[6] Basch CH, et al. (2013). Advertising of toothpaste in Parenting Magazines. Journal of Community Health 38(5):911-4.

[7] Basch CH, Rajan S. (2014). Marketing strategies and warning labels on fluoride toothpaste. Journal of Dental Hygiene 88(5):316-9.

[8] Levy SM, Guha-Chowdhury N. (1999). Total fluoride intake and implications for dietary fluoride supplementation. Journal of Public Health Dentistry 59: 211-23.

[9]Akiniwa, K. (1997). Re-examination of acute toxicity of fluoride. Fluoride 30: 89-104.

[10] Gessner BD, et al. (1994). Acute fluoride poisoning from a public water system. New England Journal of Medicine 330:95-9.

[11]Shulman JD, Wells LM. (1997). Acute fluoride toxicity from ingesting home-use dental products in children, birth to 6 years of age. Journal of Public Health Dentistry 57: 150-8.

[12] McCaffery K. (2003). Fluoride and dermatitis. Journal of the American Dental Association 134: 1166.

[13] Brun R. (2004). Recurrent Benign Aphthous Stomatitis and Fluoride Allergy. Dermatology 208: 181.

[14] Shahed AR, et al. (1986). Effect of F on rat serum insulin levels in vivo. Journal of Dental Research 65:756.

[15] Whitford GM, et al. (1987b). Topical fluorides: effects on physiologic and biochemical processes. Journal of Dental Research 66(5):1072-8.

[16] Menoyo I, Rigalli A, Puche RC. 2005. Effect of fluoride on the secretion of insulin in the rat. Drug Res 55(5):455-60.

[17]http://fluoridealert.org/issues/dental-products/toothpastes/

[18] Brooks, Megan. “Fluoride May Be Neurotoxic in Kids.” Medscape.com. N.p., 23 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2012. <http://www.scoop.it/t/family-centred-care-practice/p/2524572531/medscape-fluoride-may-be-neurotoxic-in-kids>.

[19] Lu, Z, et al. “In vivo influence of sodium fluoride on sperm chemotaxis in male mice..” Archives of Toxicology Jul 24 (2013). In vivo influence of sodium fluoride on sperm chemotaxis in male mice. (accessed November 20, 2013).

[20] Adams, Mike. “PROOF: Chinese Industrial Fluoride Suppliers Openly List Sodium Fluoride as ‘insecticide’ and ‘adhesive Preservative’ in Addition to Water Treatment Chemical.”PROOF: Chinese Industrial Fluoride Suppliers Openly List Sodium Fluoride as ‘insecticide’ and ‘adhesive Preservative’ in Addition to Water Treatment Chemical. NaturalNews.com, 31 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2012. <http://www.naturalnews.com/037024_sodium_fluoride_insecticide_proof.html>9

[21] Global Research, Copyright © Dr. Gary Null, Global Research, 2014

[22] Statement by Dr. James Patrick before Congressional Subcommittee, 8/4/82.

body-container-line